Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing an image file in a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for storing an image file in a mobile terminal using a file name automatically generated when an image that matches an input image file has been stored in a phone book.
Discussion of the Background
In general, mobile terminals have developed from simple tools for communication into complex devices with various multimedia functions including a camera function. A mobile terminal with an embedded camera enables a user to store an image taken by the camera using a name input by the user or automatically created by the mobile terminal. Typically, a random name for the image file is automatically generated in the mobile terminal. The random name may include a character string such as ‘photo’ or ‘moving image’ and a number (for example, ‘photo1’, ‘photo2’, ‘moving image1’, or ‘moving image2’). The name of the image file may also be edited by the user while it is being saved in the mobile terminal. However, because the user may not recognize the contents of the image if a random name is used, the user may directly create and store a name for an image.
As the number of images taken by a camera and hence, the number of images to be saved, increases, it may become cumbersome to create names for all of the image files. For example, if several pictures of the same person or object are taken, the user may create a different name for each picture in order to store them in a manner that permits easy identification and retrieval.
A camera-embedded mobile terminal may also have a phone book in which images are stored. This phone book function enables users to store contact information, such as a phone number, as well as an image file associated with the phone number in the phone book, thus providing greater convenience for users.
However, if a user desires to modify an image file stored in the phone book, they may need to record an image file in a photo album and retrieve the image file from the photo album for registration. That is, the user may have to go through the above process to replace the previously stored image file with the most recent image, thus inconveniencing the user.